Support structures may be used to mount engine components onto an engine enclosure or even to support the component remotely from the engine. The components that may be typically mounted include aftertreatment devices, mufflers, turbochargers, Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) coolers, oil coolers, electronic control modules (ECM) and oil filters.
Various exhaust treatment components may be mounted individually in an exhaust system within the available space using individual support structures. However, due to the increasing complexity and number of exhaust treatment components and the small amount of available space, mounting and interconnecting exhaust treatment components may be difficult.
Nevertheless, there remains a need for the incorporation of exhaust treatment components within the limited available space, without requiring substantial and costly redesign of the machine. These space constraints may be further exacerbated by other requirements, such as maintaining heat rejection levels from an engine or other components at satisfactory levels.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,717,205, in the name of Caterpillar Inc., discloses a hood assembly for a machine which may have an enclosure to which at least one exhaust aftertreatment device is integrated. The exhaust aftertreatment system may be mated to an exhaust pipe from the engine. The engine hood assembly may include ventilation openings to assist in heat rejection from the engine compartment and from the exhaust aftertreatment devices. However, the exhaust aftertreatment device may be mounted in a exhaust hood assembly that may obstruct the view from the cab of the machine.
Support structures may be used to mount engine components onto a base engine structure. However, vibrations generated by the engine during operation may negatively affect components that are connected thereto. Generally, the support structures that may be used to mount the components may be designed to reduce or obviate excessive vibrations being transferred from an engine to a mounted engine component.
These support structures may be designed to be sufficiently rigid to obviate transfer of vibrations from the operating engine to a mounted engine component. However, such support structures may often be relatively larger and heavier than what is required to maintain component mounting in a static condition. Large and heavy support structures may also result in an increase in production cost of an engine and a decrease in fuel economy of the engine due to their larger size and weight.
US 2008/0223329 A1 discloses a compound bracket system for an internal combustion engine having a first bracket that may be rigidly connected to a crankcase of the internal combustion engine and a second bracket that may be connected to the crankcase through an intake manifold. The first bracket may form at least one mounting pad that is arranged to connect to and support a turbine. The second bracket may form a component cavity that is arranged to accept and support an EGR cooler. The first bracket may have an interconnection pad, and the second component may have a strut with a mounting tab that may be connected to the interconnection pad to increase the rigidity of the second bracket.
The present disclosure is directed, at least in part, to improving or overcoming one or more aspects of the prior art engine component support structures.